


Lighter Than the Air

by wholeorc



Category: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, X-23 (Comic), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: A rarepair so rare I think I'm the first in the tag, Doreen is less oblivious than she seems, F/F, Insecurity, Internalized Homophobia, Laura feels bad for thinking Doreen is pretty, Mission Fic, Sharing a Bed, pls let them be gfs marvel I'm begging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 00:45:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18728242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholeorc/pseuds/wholeorc
Summary: Adventures in insecurity and being gay as hell with Laura and Doreen





	Lighter Than the Air

Doreen was pretty. 

Laura tried to scrub the thought from her mind, but it just kept coming back. Doreen was  _very_ pretty. Her face was heart-shaped, her smile was big and buck-toothed, her hips curved out wide from her waist. 

She shouldn't be looking at her like that. Doreen was a friend who trusted her, and all she could do was notice. Notice how her cheeks dimpled when she laughed, how her strong legs carried her quick and graceful. It was creepy to look at her this way. Laura hated the thought of being looked at that way by a stranger. 

But they weren't strangers. They were colleagues and friends, out on a mission that needed discretion and high-powered agents. Sending two petite women who packed a lot of punch made sense. 

Doreen flung her leggings off as they entered their hotel room, her tail unfurling to comfortably stand tall behind her. "Whew! I can't tell ya how good that feels." She chirped in her wonderful voice. Laura liked to hear it. It was musical, cheerful. A bit nasaly, but she liked that too. 

Distantly, she realized that Doreen had not stopped at her leggings. She was down to her underwear now, scurrying around their shared room unbothered. Laura's instinctual concern for how quickly Doreen felt safe around her was squashed when she remembered Doreen was one of the few people who could hold her own against anyone from Weapon X. Hell, Doreen could probably kill her if she tried. 

But she wouldn't. 

"You gonna change into your jammies, Laura?" 

"You haven't yet either."

"Nah, but I usually sleep naked. I'm being courteous."

Laura blushed, relieved Doreen wasn't paying much attention to her. She got up, grabbing her duffel bag and taking it to the bathroom. 

She avoided eye contact with the mirror, digging through her bag for some sleep clothes. A baggy old band tee and soft cotton shorts. Much more appropriate than sleeping in the nude. Did Doreen really do that? 

She snapped her focus to changing before her imagination could even attempt to go there. She sighed as she rolled her sports bra over her head, feeling her ribs groan with relief. She was pretty sure it didn't fit her right. 

Her phone buzzed. Gabby. 

 _hows your date going_ 👀

Laura huffed. 

_our mission is going fine. go to bed._

_you can't make me! and daken fell asleep before me so neither can he_ 😼

 She rolled her eyes, tapping out another "go to bed" that she knew would be ignored before exiting the bathroom. 

Doreen was comfortably sprawled over the entire king bed, lying on her front with her legs kicked up in the air. Evidently she'd found some old sitcom to make fun of. 

"You know I'm supposed to sleep there too, Doreen."

She looked up, smiling and scooting her body to one side of the bed. "Hop on in, partner!" 

Laura nearly blushed again, deciding to focus on the floor as she approached to climb on. Her eyes wandered to Doreen's legs. She didn't shave them, but the hair there was so light you wouldn't be able to tell unless you were looking for it. Laura felt a small pang of jealousy as she thought of her own body hair. Thick, dark, wiry, fast-growing. Completely unmanageable and practically everywhere. Nothing pretty or delicate about it. 

"Checking out my home-grown leggings?" Doreen asked cheerfully, causing Laura to start. "They aren't nearly as glorious as yours, but I like 'em."

"My what?" 

"Your leg hairs! Mine are practically invisible." Doreen pouted. What an odd way to feel. "Yours are like, king leg hairs. I bet you never get mosquito bites."

Laura grunted, sitting up. "Wouldn't know."

"Right! Healing factor." Doreen's tail wiggled as she spoke, punctuating her enthusiasm. "Well I may not have the best leg hairs, but I do have a big, bushy tail. That probably evens it out." 

Laura didn't really know how to respond except to nod. Doreen's cheeriness reminded her a bit of Wade, but hers didn't have the darkness behind it. She wasn't compensating for anything, she was just a happy person. A happy mutant. 

What must that be like? 

"You like The Mountain Goats?" 

Another startling question. "What?"

"The Mountain Goats. The band on your shirt."

"Oh. Uh, I don't know. I just got this from a thrift store."

"You should give them a listen! They're really good." Doreen looked so earnest. Most other people would berate her for wearing a shirt for a band she didn't know, but not Doreen. 

Sweet Doreen. 

Laura grabbed a few pillows and started settling in. "We should sleep soon so we can get an early start." She said lamely. She would have preferred to keep talking to Doreen, but Laura had a feeling she was coming across as creepy and uninteresting. 

"Aw, alright." Doreen looked a little put out, rotating herself to lie beside Laura on the bed. She clicked off their bedside lamp, blackening the room aside from the glow of the television. "It shouldn't be that bad, y'know. All we gotta do is take out some goons."

"Easier to take them out on a full night's sleep." Laura rolled so her back was to Doreen. 

"Suit yourself." Laura felt Doreen shuffle around, presumably trying to get settled. The TV was clicked off and they were now completely awash in darkness. 

"Just so you know," Doreen broke the stretch of silence, apparently unable to just go to sleep. "I'm kind of a snuggly sleeper. So if you wake up and I'm spooning you or something I apologize in advance."

Laura's heart fluttered a bit. That sounded nice. "I'll manage." 

\---

Laura jolted awake to her alarm, taking several moments to process her surroundings. 

Unfamiliar. Right, right, she was in a hotel. She felt a warm weight on her back. 

True to her word, Doreen had managed to completely octopus herself around Laura's back as she slept. Her leg hitched over Laura's hip and her arms wrapped around her middle. Her chin was tucked comfortably against Laura's neck, and she was completely deadweight asleep. 

Laura resisted the temptation to just lay there and enjoy the little snuggle, gently prodding Doreen a few times to wake her. 

"Mm?"

"C'mon, Doreen, we got a mission to do."

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd write something cute of my fav girls! I love this pairing sm


End file.
